Ashina tribe

The Ashina (; Middle Chinese: ( Guangyun) ), were a Turkic speaking tribe and the ruling dynasty of the Göktürks. This clan rose to prominence in the mid-6th century when the leader, Bumin Qaghan, revolted against the Rouran Khaganate. The two main branches of the family, one descended from Bumin and the other from his brother Istämi, ruled over the eastern and western parts of the Göktürk confederation, respectively.

Origin

Primary Chinese sources ascribed different origins to the Ashina tribe. Ashina were first attested to 439, as reported by the ''Book of Sui'': on the 18th day of the 10th month, the Tuoba ruler Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei overthrew Juqu Mujian of the Northern Liang in eastern Gansu,Wei Zheng et al., ''Book of Sui'', Vol. 84. and 500 Ashina families fled northwest to the Rouran Khaganate near Gaochang. According to the ''Book of Zhou'', ''History of the Northern Dynasties'', and New Book of Tang, the Ashina clan was a component of the Xiongnu confederation.Linghu Defen et al., ''Book of Zhou'', Vol. 50. but this is contested. Göktürks were also posited as having originated from an obscure Suo state (索國), north of the Xiongnu.Li Yanshou (李延寿), ''History of the Northern Dynasties'', Vol. 99. According to the ''Book of Sui'' and the ''Tongdian'', they were "mixed barbarians" (; ''záhú'') from Pingliang.杜佑, 《通典》, 北京: 中華書局出版, (Du You, ''Tongdian'', Vol.197), 辺防13 北狄4 突厥上, 1988, , p. 5401.

According to some researchers (Duan, Xue, Tang, and Lung) the Ashina tribe were descended from the Tiele confederation, who were likewise associated with the Xiongnu. Like the Göktürks, the Tiele were probably one of many nomadic Turkic peoples on the steppe. However, Lee & Kuang (2017) state that Chinese histories did not describe the Ashina-led Göktürks as descending from the Dingling or belonging to the Tiele confederation.

Etymology

Several researchers, including Peter B. Golden, H. W. Haussig,Haussig Н. W. "Byzantinische Qullen über Mittelasien in ihrer historischen Aussage" // Prolegomena to the sources on the history of pre-Islamic Central Asia. Budapest, 1979. S. 55–56. S. G. Klyashtorny,Kjyashtorny S. G. ''The Royal Clan of the Turks and the Problem of its Designation // Post-Soviet Central Asia''. Edited by Touraj Atabaki and John O'Kane. Tauris Academic Studies. London*New York in association with IIAS. International Institute for Asian Studies. Leiden-Amsterdam, p. 366–369. Carter V. Findley, D. G. Savinov, B. A. Muratov, S. P. Guschin,Wen S.-Q., Muratov B.A., Suyunov R.R. The haplogroups of the representatives from ancient Turkic clans – Ashina and Ashide // BEHPS
, Volume 3, No. 2 ,2 March 2016. p. 154–157. R.R. Suyunov
Муратов Б.А., Суюнов Р.Р. Саки-динлины, аорсы, Ашина и потомки кланов Дешти-Кипчака по данным ДНК-генеалогии // Вестник Академии ДНК-генеалогии (Бостон, США) → Том 7, №8, Август 2014, стр. 1198–1226.
Muratov, Муратов Б.А. ДНК-генеалогия тюркоязычных народов Урала, Волги и Кавказа. Том 4, серия «Этногеномика и ДНК-генеалогия», ЭИ Проект «Суюн». Vila do Conde, Lidergraf, 2014, илл. . and András Róna-Tas have posited that the term Ashina is from the Iranian Saka or possibly from the Wusun.

Carter V. Findley assumes that the name "Ashina" comes from one of the Saka languages of central Asia and means "blue" (which translates to Proto-Turkic *''kȫk'', whence Old Turkic 𐰚𐰇𐰚‎ ''kök'', and same in all Modern Turkic languages). The color blue is identified with the east, so that Göktürk, another name for the Turkic empire, meant the "Turks of the East"; meanwhile, Peter Benjamin Golden favours a more limited denotation of Göktürks as denoting only the Eastern Turks.C. V. Findley 39. This idea is seconded by Hungarian researcher András Róna-Tas, who finds it plausible "that we are dealing with a royal family and clan of Saka origin".Róna-Tas 280. Findley also said that the term ''böri'', used to identify the ruler's retinue as 'wolves', probably also derived from one of the Iranian languages.

H. W. Haussig and S. G. Kljyashtorny suggest an association between the name and the compound "kindred of Ashin" ''ahşaẽna'' (in Old Persian). This is so even in East Turkestan; then the desired form would be in the Sogdian xs' yn' k'' (-әhšēnē) "blue, dark"; Khotan-Saka (Brahmi) ''āşşeiņa'' (-āşşena) "blue", where a long -ā- emerged as development ahş-> āşş-; in Tocharian A āśna- "blue, dark" (from Khotan-Saka and Sogdian). There is a textual support for this version in the ancient runic inscriptions of the Turks.

In the large Orkhon inscriptions, in the story of the first Kagan, people living in the newly created empire are named "''kök türk''" (translated as "Celestial Turks"). Without touching the numerous interpretations "''kök''" may have in this combination, note its perfect semantic match with the reconstructed value of the name "Ashina". An explicit semantic calque suggests knowledge of its original meaning and foreign origin, which is compatible with the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural nature of the First Turkic Khaganate, which entailed the loss, however, of the popularity of "national character", in the words of L. Bazin, as was the political and cultural environment of the Otuken regime in the era of Bilge Qaghan.

The name "Ashina" was recorded in ancient Muslim chronicles in these forms: ''Aś(i)nas'' ( al-Tabari), ''Ānsa'' ( Hudud al-'Alam), ''Śaba'' ( Ibn Khordadbeh), ''Śana'', ''Śaya'' (Al-Masudi). Based on Chinese sources' testament that the Ashina, upon becoming the head of Göktürks, exhibited a tuğ banner with a wolf head over their gate in reminiscence of its origins,
the name "Ashina" is translated by some researchers as "wolf", cf. Tuoba 叱奴 *''čino'', Middle Mongol ''činua'', Khalkha ''čono''. However, Golden contends that derivation from Mongolic is mistaken.Golden, Peter B. (August 2018). "The Ethnogonic Tales of the Türks". ''The Medieval History Journal'', 21(2). 21 (2): 292.

In Turkic sources

A recently acquired (2009 – 2012) new source for the word Ashina is found in the Old Turkic ''Ašїnas'' written in the Khor-Asgat inscription, which is confirmed by the Sogdian form ''Ašinas'' from the Bugut and Karabalgasun steles and the Arabic forms ''Ašinās'' and ''Ašnās'' from medieval Islamic sources. Chinese editors usually avoided the letter /s/. The word is derived from Turco-Mongolic and Tungusic *aš / eš, *azhi / *ezhi < *ašїn / ešin, and *azhїn / *ezhin (wife of the ruler). The final element ''-as'' of Ašїnas is explained as a plural suffix (similar to the Turkic Kangaras < Kangar + suffix -as) as proposed by Marquart, Melioranskii and others.

Legends

Chinese chroniclers recorded four origin tales, which Golden termed "Wolf Tale I", "Wolf Tale II", "Shemo (Žama) and the Deer Tale" and "Historical Account", of the Turks in dynasty histories and historical compilations "based on or copied from the same source(s) and repeated in later collections of historical tales".

* Wolf Tale I: Ashina was one of ten sons born to a grey she-wolf (see: Asena) in the north of Gaochang.'' Zhoushu'', vol. 50
* Wolf Tale II: The ancestor of the Ashina was a man from the Suo nation (north of Xiongnu) whose mother was a lupine season goddess.
* Shemo and the Deer Tale: The Ashina descended from a skilled archer named Shemo, who had once fallen in love with a sea goddess west of Ashide cave.
* Historical Account: The Ashina were mixture stocks from the Pingliang commandery of eastern Gansu.

These stories were sometimes pieced together to form a chronologically coherent narrative of early Ashina history. However, as the ''Book of Zhou'', the ''Book of Sui'', and the ''Youyang Zazu'' were all written around the same time, during the early Tang dynasty, it is debatable whether they could truly be considered chronological or rather should be considered competing versions of the Ashina's origin. The record of Turks in Zhoushu (written in the first half of the seventh century) describes the use of gold by Turks around the mid-fifth century: "(The Turks) inlaid gold sculpture of wolf head on their tuğ banner; their military men were called ''Fuli'', that is, wolf in Chinese. It is because they are descendants of the wolf, and naming so is for not forgetting their ancestors."

According to Klyashtorny, the origin myth of Ashina shared similarities with the Wusun, although there is a significant difference that, whereas in the Wusun myth the wolf saves the ancestor of the tribe, it is not as in the case of the Turks. He also adds that Turk system of beliefs linking at least some sections of the Turk ruling class to the Sogdians and, beyond them, to the Wusun.

Funeral rite

The Chronicle of Northern Zhou describes the funeral rites of the Ashina. The deceased were laid to rest in a tent, and animals would be sacrificed around the tent. Relatives of the deceased would ride horses around the tent and ritualistically cut themselves about the face as a display of mourning, or "blood tears". The individual and their belongings would then be incinerated.

According to D. G. Savinov, no burials in South Siberia nor Central Asia that are fully consistent with the description of Ashina burials have been found.

According to D. G. Savinov this may be for several reasons:
# Göktürk burial sites in Central Asia and Southern Siberia are not yet open;
# The source is a compilation in character, and burial rituals and funeral cycle from various sources are listed in a unified manner;
# Göktürk funeral rites in the form in which they are recorded in written sources, developed later on the basis of the various components present in some of the archaeological sites of Southern Siberia of earlier Turkic cultures.

It is thought that the rite of cremation which was adopted by the ruling elite did not spread among the common people of the Qaganate. This may be attributed to the different ethnic origin of the ruling family.

Physical appearance

According to the ''Book of Zhou'' and ''History of the Northern Dynasties'', the Ashina clan was related to the "Yenisei Kyrgyz", who resided near the Pamir mountains and are described as possessing red hair and blue eyes in the '' New Book of Tang'' (Xin Tangshu 217b.6147), a description previously used to describe the Wusun. However, the Göktürks differed from the Qirghiz in their physiognomy and "no comparable depiction of the Kök Türks or Tiele is found in the official Chinese histories."

According to Lee & Kuang (2017), the most likely explanation for the West Eurasian physiognomy of the Yenisei Kirghiz is a high frequency of the Eurasian Indo-European haplogroup R1a-Z93.

Muqan Qaghan, the third Qaghan of the First Turkic Khaganate, was described by Chinese authors as having an unusual appearance. His eyes were blue, he had a red complexion, and his face was wide.

According to Chinese scientist Xue Zongzheng, the early members of the Ashina tribe had physical features that were quite different from those of East Asian people. These would include deep eye sockets, prominent noses, and light eye or hair color. However, over time, members of the Ashina tribe intermarried with Chinese nobility, which shifted their physical appearance to a more East Asian one.

Qilibi Khan, an eighth generation descendant of Bumin Qaghan, the founder of the First Turkic Khaganate, is likewise described as having a physical appearance similar to that of the Sogdian people. The ''Old Book of Tang'' records that Qilibi Khan was forbidden from assuming the title of Shad, due to his Sogdian-like physical appearance. This suggests that the transformation of the physical appearance of the Ashina tribe was almost complete by the mid-7th century AD. According to Zongzheng, having a physical appearance like a Sogdian was, by this time, being presented as a sign of mixed ancestry among the Ashina. The Ashina clans suspected him of being born out of an adulterous relationship, and therefore did not entrust him with great authorities. According to the ''Old Book of Tang'', the Ashina Khagans Shibi and Heshana suspected Qilibi was not an Ashina because he looked like a barbarian rather than a Turk, and thus could not become a ''shad''.

Similarly, Turkish historian Emel Esin noted that the early members of the Ashina tribe, much like the Yenisei Kirghiz, had more Europeoid features, but became more East Asian-looking over time, due to intermarriage. She also wrote that members of the Ashina tribe sought to marry Chinese nobles, "perhaps in the hope of finding an occasion to claim rulership over China, or because the high birth of the mother warranted seniority". Esin notes that the later depiction of an Ashina prince, the Bust of Kul Tigin, has an East Asian appearance. "The Chinese sources of the Kök-Türk period describe the turcophone Kirgiz with green eyes and red hair. They must have been in majority Europeoids although intermarriages with the Chinese had begun long ago. The Kök-Türk kagan Mu-kan was also depicted with blue eyes and an elongated ruddy face. Probably as a result of the repeated marriages, the members of the Kök-Türk dynasty (pl. XLVII/a), and particularly Köl Tigin, had frankly Mongoloid features. Perhaps in the hope of finding an occasion to claim rulership over China, or because the high birth of the mother warranted seniority, the Inner Asian monarchs sought alliances165 with dynasties reigning in China."

Genetics

According to Canadian scholar Joo-Yup Lee, it is possible that the Ashina tribe belonged to the paternal haplogroup R1a1.

The reasoning for this assumption is that the Ashina tribe was said to be closely related to the Yenisei Kirghiz people, and also to the Iranian Saka. The modern-day descendants of the Yenisei Kirghiz, the Kyrgyz people, have one of the highest frequencies of haplogroup R1a-Z93. This lineage is associated with Indo-Iranians who migrated to the Altai region in the Bronze Age, and is carried by various Türkic groups.

American historian Peter Golden has reported that genetic testing of the proposed descendants of the Ashina tribe does seem to confirm a link to the Indo-Iranians, emphasizing that "''the Turks as a whole ‘were made up of heterogeneous and somatically dissimilar populations". The paternal haplogroup identified in the proposed descendants of the Ashina was R1a-Z2124, the so-called "Pashtun cluster".

Legacy

Members of the Ashina dynasty also ruled the Basmyls,Zizhi Tongjian Vol. 212, cited in Zuev Yu.A., ''Horse Tamgas from Vassal Princedoms'' (translation of 8-10th century Chinese ''Tanghuyao''), Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences, Alma-Ata, 1960, p. 104, 132 and Karluk Yabghu's State; and possibly also Khazars and Karakhanids (if the first Karakhanid ruler Bilge Kul Qadir Khan indeed descended from the Karluk Yabghus). According to some researchers, the Second Bulgarian Empire's Asen dynasty might be descendants of Ashina.Sychev N. V., (2008), ''Книга династий'', p. 161-162

Gallery

See also

* Timeline of Turks (500–1300)
*Turks in the Tang military
* Mythology of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples
*Shǐ (surname), (史) adopted by some of the Ashina tribe

Notes

References

Sources

*
*
*Findley, Carter Vaughin. ''The Turks in World History''. Oxford University Press, 2005. .
* Golden, Peter. ''An introduction to the history of the Turkic peoples: Ethnogenesis and state-formation in medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East'', Harrassowitz, 1992.
*
* ''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' 2nd ed. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1950–1958.
*
*
* Róna-Tas, András. ''Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages''. Central European University Press, 1999. . Page 280.
*
* Zhu, Xueyuan. ''The Origins of Northern China's Ethnicities''. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2004. .
* Xue, Zongzheng. ''A History of Turks''. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press, 1992. .
* Duan: Dingling, Gaoju and Tiele. 1988, pp. 39–41
* Suribadalaha, "New Studies of the Origins of the Mongols", p. 46–47.
* Cheng, Fangyi. "The Research on the Identification Between Tiele and the Oghuric Tribes".

External links

Lev Gumilev about the Ashina clan

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashina (Clan)
Ashina tribe
Khazars
History of China
Nomadic groups in Eurasia
Turkic dynasties